Mash Those Buttonshttp://mashthosebuttons.com
Mash Those Buttons celebrates all things gaming. Community, culture, the games themselves, and everything that comes with it.Tue, 03 Mar 2015 18:08:08 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1WoW! Thoughts! — On the Real Problem with Daily Questshttp://mashthosebuttons.com/2015/02/wow-thoughts-on-the-real-problem-with-daily-quests/
http://mashthosebuttons.com/2015/02/wow-thoughts-on-the-real-problem-with-daily-quests/#commentsFri, 27 Feb 2015 16:49:42 +0000http://mashthosebuttons.com/?p=46993One of the primary reasons for the frustration over Patch 6.1 has been the disappointment felt by many about Warlords of Draenor’s endgame. In typical Blizzard over-reactionary fashion, the complaints of “Too many dailies” reported for Mists of Pandaria engendered the near extinction of dailies. The problem is that this response ignores what players found most irritating about dailies in Mists, while also dispatching with everything that players enjoyed. It’s a classic case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, and one can only hope that Blizzard is paying attention to the current outcry so someday we will just end up with a glistening clean baby instead of a player base that cries like one.

At launch, Mists of Pandaria featured several different factions for players to interact with; each with their own daily quest hub. Each hub told a story of sorts, though some, like the Klaxxi or the Golden Lotus, were more involved than others. Players enjoyed having so many engaging activities to seek out, but the complaints started to arise as players felt forced to do this content. The problem was that profession recipes and epic gear were available only from reputation vendors – in order to efficiently progress, one needed to be working towards exalted with multiple factions as quickly as possible to unlock your gear. Players disliked feeling forced to do so many daily quests, and thus the result was an outcry against daily quests.

Yet now that Blizzard has removed these dailies, players are finding Warlords of Draenor’s endgame content lacking, and the point is being made that the additional content dailies provided would be welcome. Blizzard failed to comprehend that it was gating gear behind the daily quests that irked players, not the quests themselves, and without that distinction Blizzard arrived at a solution in the form of the Timeless Isle-style of questing, with its reliance on rare spawns and timed events. This worked as a methodology for providing a single zone of content, but has struggled when scaled up to a whole continent.

Even then, players bemoaned the length Shaohao reputation grind, but as it was one grind and players had over a year to kill mobs, it was not a major point of contention. Instead, players now have two reputations that can only be completed by grinding out mobs, and another reputation that requires collecting items from specific mobs (which is to say another grind). The end result is that Warlords of Draenor has either felt underwhelming or daunting, depending on whether you ignore or engage the grind.

Hopefully, Blizzard has been paying attention and realized that players appreciated the way Mists’ max-level content was presented. The system was flawed, but only needed minor tweaking instead of a complete overhaul. Blizzard has claimed that they heard us and that they removed dailies because we asked for it, but any good development company should know to look beyond what their player base is crying about and determine the true cause for their pain. The clamor over dailies was not a call to remove them. Previously, players had been enjoying daily quests enough that Blizzard felt compelled to remove the 25 daily quest limit in Mists. Ultimately, this decision overwhelmed players by presenting too many reputations to grind, hastening player burnout. Yet Blizzard, as they are known to do when faced with a struggling feature, removed it entirely instead of attempting to address the fundamental problem.

If Blizzard has been paying attention, then they must know that players have been disappointed with the current state of end game content. Yet the question arises in what form their response will take. The ultimate question is what is the best way to provide gear upgrades to players without invoking reputation grinds? It would seem that Apexis Crystals have been well received as a replacement for valor and justice points, even if valor and justice did not need to be removed.

Fundamentally, the solution seems to be to replace the assault quests with real quest hubs – while some may appreciate the deconstruction of the questing experience, overall, players seem to prefer a more guided approach. The only issue is that constructing a quest hub, with advancing story elements like the revered patch 5.1, requires more development resources than assembling a collection of mobs to go kill. Hopefully, with the manpower that was added during Warlords’ development, that sort of effort should not be unattainable.

Perhaps the next expansion will see a return to daily quests as they were appreciated previously. Perhaps Blizzard will overreact in some unpredictable way, and introduce a new system with perks and flaws for us to love and dissect. Either way, one of the great and worst things about a game like World of Warcraft is that it is always in flux. Whenever a system like daily quests is introduced, it will be iterated upon and evolve continually. We can only look forward to what the next iteration will bring.

]]>http://mashthosebuttons.com/2015/02/wow-thoughts-on-the-real-problem-with-daily-quests/feed/0WoW! Thoughts! — On Patch 6.1: The Patch With No Namehttp://mashthosebuttons.com/2015/02/wow-thoughts-on-patch-6-1-the-patch-with-no-name/
http://mashthosebuttons.com/2015/02/wow-thoughts-on-patch-6-1-the-patch-with-no-name/#commentsFri, 20 Feb 2015 21:14:53 +0000http://mashthosebuttons.com/?p=46970Last night, Blizzard announced that Patch 6.1 was now available for background download in advance of its launch on Tuesday. The last few weeks have been tumultuous for Blizzard, as players looking for non-raid content have been following the news regarding the patch with a bit of confusion. There is a surprising lack of actual content, and for the first time since Patch 2.2, Blizzard is releasing a patch with no name. Surely no one expected Warlords of Draenor to echo The Burning Crusade in this manner.

To compound the situation, some of the features that are coming with the patch are controversial in nature. For example, last week a video appeared on Blizzard’s YouTube channel demonstrating patch 6.1’s Twitter integration feature. This feature was first announced in the Blizzard’s “World of Warcraft in the New Year” post, and while met with skepticism at the time, it was overshadowed by other announcements such as the game-time currency. When presented with the video absent distraction, players immediately indicated their dislike by downvoting the video at a roughly 9:1 ratio. Although this protest will yield no result, it signals the depth of the discontent within the community.

Blizzard’s problem through Warlords of Draenor’s development has been managing expectations of the fans . The success of Warlords shows that Blizzard knows what their player base wants, but lately Blizzard has developed the tendency to overpromise and then suffer wrath when course-correcting later. Blizzard’s dithering about flight shortly after Warlords announcement (maybe 6.1!) has resulted in people still ranting about it despite Blizzard giving no indication there are plans to add it in the near future, if ever. While the furor over Twitter integration may seem to be a large number of people rallying against the encroachment of social media (all of this happening across the internet on sites which allow for groups to gather and discuss – the argument can even be made that Ventrillo or Teamspeak are a form of social media), it is ultimately about Blizzard’s perceived ignorance to the perception that Warlords of Draenor lacks endgame content.

While I have espoused my love for the Assault quests and Garrisons in the past, I will admit that lately, my playtime in WoW has been significantly reduced. While that is not entirely due to a lack of things to do (if anything, I still want to build up my garrison a little more and I have alts that need tending to), I have not been able to play WoW for more than maybe 3 or 4 hours a week, and I have been fine with that. I have had just enough time to tend to check my garrison buildings each day and maybe trap some beasts or run LFR. For anyone enthralled with Mists multiple factions and daily quest hubs, it is easy to see how this expansion could be found lacking. Most players should be done with their garrison quest by now, and sadly, that story will not resume until patch 6.2. The non-raiding player base is starved for content, and patch 6.1 was Blizzard’s chance to satiate that hunger.

Yet instead of a meal, the focus has been on snacks, like the S.E.L.F.I.E. camera or even the Blood Elf models. While the Blood Elf updates have been heavily anticipated, there is no content there. Players log in and have the model. Any time spent admiring the new models and experimenting with transmogrification cannot be assumed. The same goes for the S.E.L.F.I.E. camera. There may be a quest to obtain and upgrade it, but that is a one time experience with a reward many players care little for. Patch 5.1 brought an entire new daily quest hub to Mists of Pandaria – a patch that many argue was the best example of Blizzard’s use of quests to tell a story to date. Players want more of that, and based on the video Blizzard’s Patch 6.1 Survival Guide, it appears they will be left wanting.

The video mentions two specific forms of content coming in 6.1: the continuation of Khadgar’s Legendary Questline, and the Garrison Daily Visitor. The Legendary quest is convenient for Blizzard to mention, but not true patch content, as it is related to the recently Blackrock Foundry raid. The story quests are coming in patch 6.1 only because they are gated behind the task of acquiring 900 elemental runestones from the raid. While this content will technically be available in the data provided on February 24th, no player could have possibly completed the requisite grind yet, so claiming this as patch content is disingenuous.

As for the Garrison Daily Visitor, a single daily quest giver is not the same as a full quest hub. Players will randomly be tasked with killing a dungeon or raid boss, or be provided a profession quest. The only intriguing content here is the relic quests, which are required to obtain Harrison Jones as a follower. It will be interesting to see just how long these quests are. While Blizzard has attempted to extend the amount of time required to complete all six relic quests by gating them behind this random visitor appearance, that has been offset by the fact that players can receive quests by visiting other garrisons. It will be interesting to see if anyone is able to complete all six relic quests in one day by garrison-jumping until all quests have been found. Otherwise, it would seem that a well-connected player can complete this in about a week.

So as the player base finds themselves frustrated, Blizzard makes themselves an easy target by debuting the twitter and Patch 6.1 videos. Twitter integration itself seems useful to anyone who has a history of tweeting screenshots or events in game – actions which admittedly do not apply to all players. But pet battles, or fishing, or plenty of other features in WoW are not used by all players. This harms no one while benefiting (more than) a few. But simply because development time was spent on this and not on new content, players are incensed (not that the content developers are the people responsible for UI features like this, of course).

Furthermore, Blizzard has confused matters by remaining silent on the Iron Docks quest hub until now. As the hub was deployed on the PTR, data-miners anticipated it would be part of this coming patch. Data-mining is always a suspect proposition, but Blizzard neither supported nor denied any claims by these sites until the last few days, describing the Iron Docks as the one time quest chain lead in to Tanaan in 6.2. For weeks, skeptical players have been reviewing the patch notes and claiming that Patch 6.1 lacked content. Those of us looking to defend Blizzard would retort by mentioning the Iron Docks quests. Now, with the patch upon us, Blizzard has proven their critics correct to their supporters’ dismay. I may be the Video Games Public Defender, but I need my client to help me do my job right!

I would say Blizzard has been courting disaster lately, but that is a bit hyperbolic. Yet I am stunned at how little actual content is in this patch. Perhaps the combination of the garrison daily visitor and the S.E.L.F.I.E. and jukebox quests and the various garrison improvements will prove enough to tide players over. I wanted to say that Blizzard had been doing a terrible job at communicating the content that was coming in this patch, but it appears many players understood just what was coming, and the rest of us, out of either hope or disbelief, did not listen. Regardless, Patch 6.1 arrives next week, and many are disappointed with what it contains. We do not know when Patch 6.2 will arrive, but I expect Blizzard is going to get plenty of angry tweets until then.

]]>http://mashthosebuttons.com/2015/02/wow-thoughts-on-patch-6-1-the-patch-with-no-name/feed/0WoW! Thoughts! — On Lord of the Clanshttp://mashthosebuttons.com/2015/02/wow-thoughts-on-lord-of-the-clans/
http://mashthosebuttons.com/2015/02/wow-thoughts-on-lord-of-the-clans/#commentsFri, 06 Feb 2015 17:17:53 +0000http://mashthosebuttons.com/?p=46930Reading Lord of the Clans for the first time while the initial content for Warlords of Draenor is still fresh is surprisingly timely. The events of Thrall’s ascension from orphan to Warchief literally remain with him today, and it casts an interesting light on how he will deal with the Iron Horde as the time comes.

The book essentially recounts the transition from the old (evil) Horde as influenced by Gul’dan and the Shadow Council in Warcraft II to the more diplomatic Horde that players first encounter in Warcraft III and are now members of by telling the story of Thrall’s youth. The novel begins with the failed meeting between Durotan and Draka with Ogrim Doomhammer as the Frostwolf Chieftan tries to warn Orgrim of Gul’dan’s machinations. This culminates with Durotan and Draka being ambushed and assassinated, and baby Thrall being left for dead. Draka displays the same spirit witnessed in Warlords, as she bravely ventures with Durotan on their fateful mission.

One of the major themes of the book is the concept of mercy, and how Thrall learns mercy and then has to apply it in various situations where it would be detrimental to succomb to the bloodlist and kill his opponent. This is contrasted with Thrall’s hatred for Aedelas Blackmoore, the lieutenant-general who enslaved him as a young orc. Throughout the book, when bloodlust begins to overtake Thrall, he sees visions of Blackmoore and risks losing control. He regains his composure each time and finally is able to battle Blackmoore in one-on-one combat before letting the bloodlust overtake him as he slays his rival. It is interesting in comparing this with his dealings with Garrosh as the end of Mists of Pandaria and throughout Warlords.

Thrall goes to Garrosh in the hopes of talking to him, just as he approaches Durnholde and peacefully requests that Blackmoore release the orcish prisoners. Both Garrosh and Blackmoore rebuff Thrall’s offer, and combat is the result. Thrall has no qualms about killing either enemy when the fight is over, either. Garrosh only survives the Siege of Orgrimmar because Varian intervened as Thrall was about to drop a deathblow with the Doomhammer. When Varian is absent in the duel in Nagrand, Thrall finishes the job with all his Shamanic power on display. It is fitting that just as the quest that leads to their battle is called “And Justice for Thrall,” after Thrall kills Blackmoore and is questioned about his actions by Sargeant, Thrall responds, “Justice was my goal.” Although both deaths were personal for Thrall, justice was always his paramount pursuit.

Furthermore, the Garrosh and Blackmoore fights are compelling because both play with the themes of how people can influence each other. Blackmoore’s last words to Thrall are the taunt, “You are… what I made you… I am so proud,” leaving Thrall to contemplate Blackmoore’s influence in his life. When Thrall discusses this with Drek’thar, the elder Shaman points out that Thrall was indeed made by Blackmoore, as well as Grommash, Orgrim, and even Drek’thar himself, as they all shaped and influenced Thrall in various ways throughout the novel. Comparatively, Garrosh’s final words to Thrall are, “Thrall! You made me what I am,” to which Thrall responds, “No, you chose your own destiny,” and unleashes a massive lightning strike to slay Hellscream. When faced with the same accusation – that an individual can be responsible for another’s life – Thrall responds with the lesson that he learned. His upbringing was the result of several actors influencing him, combined with his own notions of honor and mercy. Similarly, Garrosh was not only influenced by Thrall, but also by the shadow of his father, as well as the other leaders of the Horde, who defined him by their opposition. Thrall’s lesson from Blackmoore is that he cannot claim responsibility for the atrocities of Garrosh, but he fails to consider that Garrosh never had the support network Thrall was granted. Despite Blackmoore, Thrall had Sargeant and Taretha as positive influences at a young age, and Grom, Orgrim, and Drek’thar as mentors when older. Thrall’s own life experiences allow him to absolve himself of responsibility for Garrosh, while blinding him to the differences that led Garrosh down a different, more violent path.

When first encountered in The Burning Crusade, Garrosh is depressed and suffering under the failings of his father. It was not until Thrall arrived in Outland to educate Garrosh about his deceased parent (much like Drek’thar and Orgrim educated Thrall about his deceased parents) that Garrosh realized that he could fulfill a larger role. Thrall sees his relationship with Garrosh as though he placed responsibility and trust in Hellscream, much as he did years earlier with Grom, and Garrosh failed him. But Garrosh sees that Thrall placed this responsibililty upon him and then abandoned him to manage it on his own. In that regard, both Garrosh and Thrall are right in their parting words, just as Blackmoore was right in his parting words with Thrall.

Also of note in Lord of the Clans is the formation of the Horde under Thrall. After he visits with the Warsong, the orc journeys off to find his own clan (the Frostwolves) who have taken up residence in the Alterac Mountains. He finds them under the leadership of the blind Shaman Drek’thar, who is also one of the first Draenor natives we encounter after traveling through the Red Portal. In the novel, Drek’thar serves as an advisor to Thrall, who is still learning to manage their relationship. After assuming the mantle of Warchief when Orgrim is killed, Thrall expects Drek’thar to speak at the funeral until Grom nudges the young orc to make a speech.

In both Warlords and Lord of the Clans, Orgrim Doomhammer gets short shrift. In Warlords he shows up for two brief scenes in Talador where he first martials some troops for Blackhand, and then seemingly for no reason turns on him during the climactic fight at the docks only to be slain before the cinematic can even begin. While the story of Doomhammer turning on and attacking Blackhand is intended to mirror their battle from Warcraft and Doomhammer’s ascension to Warchief, the fact that it happens so quickly without any buildup is disappointing. Similarly, Doomhammer is introduced in the novel solely as a way to establish Thrall as the Warchief and provide him with the iconic armor and hammer. Orgrim shows up, makes Thrall his second in command, and then shortly after is killed in a raid on an internment camp. Admittedly, Doomhammer’s primary narrative happened in the earlier games, and he is regarded as a bit of a mythological legend at this point, but Orgrim’s appearance in Lord of the Clans felt very utilitarian.

The other interesting character to watch is Grommash Hellscream. While he is the leader of the Iron Horde and currently our primary threat, in Lord of the Clans he is presented as a ferocious, yet fragile, leader. In Hellscream, the farseer sees the events of Lord of the Clans and Warcraft III, and learns that Grommash is able to drink the blood and survive the blood haze and subsequent lethargy that overtakes the orcish race. Grommash is clearly suffering from this lethargy in the novel, as Thrall observes moments where the orc briefly appears weak and gaunt, as if Grommash is struggling to maintain the facade that he is as brutish and strong as his repuation would indicate. While Grommash has united the clans in Warlords and is serving as Warchief of the Iron Horde, he falls in line behind Thrall after his ascension as Warchief in Lord of the Clans. The last few chapters are astounding to read, as Thrall barks orders to Hellscream and he obeys without hesitation. The Hellscream of Draenor would never listen to Thrall, if anyone, so casually, and it is strange to see him so cowed and obedient.

Even Grommash’s introductions are similar. When Thrall first encounters the Warsong clan, he is regarded cautiously and is forced into combat against three of their finest warriors before Hellscream will reveal himself. Likewise, in Hellscream, when Garrosh encounters the Warsong for the first time, Grommash orders him to face four of warriors in the Mok’Rogahn before he will entertain the stranger. In both instances, despite being poorly equipped and outnumbered, the visiting orc bested his competition. While Thrall’s trial is not called Mok’Rogahn by name, the Warsong are consistent in their customs across timelines.

Furthermore, the involvement of Grommash makes cinematic from the end of the Tanaan Jungle even more compelling. Just before Grommash appears with the other warlords atop the ridge and challenges, “Are you so eager to meet death?” Thrall looks to the ridge with an expression of angry resolve. Sadly, the camera does not cut back to him when Grommash reveals himself. Does Thrall know Grom is there? Varian and Maraad knew that Grommash was part of the Iron Horde during Lords of War, so does that mean Thrall did too? (Again, I wish Blizzard told us HOW they knew this!)

Lord of the Clans depicts the events of a young Thrall’s life. We see him grow from an infant to a youthful Warchief, granted the power at a seemingly early age, but full of wisdom and maturity that belies his years. In the interim he has founded Orgrimmar, become the greatest Shaman alive, fought Deathwing, and started a family. Presently, this balding, middle-aged orc rallies with us against the Iron Horde. Many events in this expansion are cyclical, and Thrall’s life is an example of how history can repeat and reflect itself. It will be interesting to see how this alternate history further affects Thrall as we progress through Warlords of Draenor.

]]>http://mashthosebuttons.com/2015/02/wow-thoughts-on-lord-of-the-clans/feed/0The Fruits of Harassmenthttp://mashthosebuttons.com/2015/02/the-fruits-of-harassment/
http://mashthosebuttons.com/2015/02/the-fruits-of-harassment/#commentsThu, 05 Feb 2015 17:38:41 +0000http://mashthosebuttons.com/?p=46917On this week’s Mashcast we discussed that Law and Order: SVU will have a Gamergate episode February 11th.

“THE VIRTUAL WORLD BECOMES REALITY WHEN A VIDEO GAME CONVENTION TURNS INTO A CRIME SCENE

I was surprised, but I really shouldn’t be. Gamergate caught the attention of main stream media shortly after its inception, with well circulated journals like CNN and The New York Times writing pieces about it. More recently Sarkeesian has gotten face time on The Colbert Report and Nightline. Episodes on TV dramas capitalizing on Gamergate isn’t too farfetched, especially for a show like SVU which likes to take recent headlines and make episodes about them. So far the bulk of this coverage from the main stream media has shined an unbalanced, negative light on gaming and gamers in general. If you watch the segment on Nightline they bring up running women over in GTA, like the same can’t happen to men. An even bigger misrepresentation is when they bring up the “Stop The Crime” activity in Watch Dogs and insinuate that only women are used as a prop to get the player to stop a bad guy.

I’m not writing this to bring up this gross misrepresentation (again). I’m not writing this to blame Sarkeesian, or Polygon, or any other outlet for this happening. I’m writing this to ask those who were involved with the harassment and threats that went out to Anita Sarkeesian, Zoe Quinn, and Brianna Wu if they are happy with their work. This is the fruit of your labor. This is the reaping we all get because of what you have sewn. Your inability to articulate your thoughts and feelings maturely have strengthened the perception that gamers and the games medium are immature.

It’s ironic because the people involved with the harassment are probably the same guys who want games and gamers to be taken more seriously. Gamers have had an uphill battle for quite some time in terms of perception, and most non-gamers (even ones that play games) don’t differentiate between asshole harasser and normal, adjusted human being in the gaming community in these instances. When they see something like this they group everyone together the same way they do with races, religious groups, and political parties. Your actions are making us all look bad. If that was your goal you are doing a stellar job.

The worst part about it for me (besides, you know, the fact that harassment and death threats are never acceptable) is that dialog between parties – not the harasser and harassed, but those who have differences in opinion about Sarkeesian’s coverage – has been shut down. This has turned into a for-us-or-against-us situation. Even someone reading this right now will probably think that I don’t believe there is any misogyny in video games, and that’s not the case. However, there are very valid arguments to make in regards to Sarkeesian misrepresenting games to strengthen her position. I mentioned two in this article alone, and if you sat next to me during a Feminist Frequency video I can guarantee a whole lot more. It’s one thing to have someone analyze a game you enjoy in a negative light, but it’s frustrating (to say the least) when moments are purposely taken out of context, or straight up lied about just to make a point.

There can be a mature, healthy debate about these topics, but not when someone from one side is making threats. This could be us, but you’re fucking up. Gamergate could have been a great movement to help fix some of the nagging issues gamers have with games journalism, or to prove that not all gamers are misogynist boys. Thanks to the harassers, however, if you put a Gamergate tag on you’re probably going to do more harm than good for whatever statement you’re trying to make. Gamergate is now, and forever will be, associated with misogyny and hate. It really sucks because the core of Gamergate is something I think all gamers would want to stand for, but a few bad apples (and by a few I mean small percent, because the numbers are actually pretty big) have ruined that.

Thanks to you, here we are. The damage that you have caused will take some time to repair and is definitely a setback for gamers as a group. If you could do us a favor and keep your mouth shut next time, we would appreciate it.

One of the more beloved features of Mists of Pandaria was the patch 5.1 quest chain (Dominance Offensive for Horde or Operation: Shieldwall for Alliance) that was told in chapters as players advanced their faction reputation. Blizzard acknowledged the reception for this design by implementing a similar system with the Garrison Campaign upon Warlords of Draenor’s release. Roughly each week since release, a new chapter became available to players with tier 3 garrisons, and now all twelve missions are available. Sadly, player reception has not been as kind as it was during Mists.

The primary complaint about garrison quests (not counting bugs that would prevent players from even attempting them) has been the rate of progression. In patch 5.1, the reputation required to unlock the next set of quests usually was about two or three day’s worth of daily quests. So players could log in daily and about twice a week find new content to advance the story. In Warlords the Campaign was not tied to any factional reputation, as the story advanced with each weekly reset. Without the reputation requirement to keep players occupied doing daily quests and the brief turnaround between chapters, players found themselves bored as they were stuck waiting a full week after receiving roughly thirty minutes of content.

In some ways, this turned WoW into a TV show – follow the weekly story for a half hour and then wait until next week to find out what’s next, same WoW time, same WoW channel. It is ironic that a “new media” property such as a game would wind up mirroring an old media strategy, especially since old media is increasingly abandoning that model. For an expansion where garrisons have harshly divided players on how to handle playing at max level, amidst many complaints about a lack of content, the Garrison Campaign provided ammunition for those who believed that content was scarce.

That said, the story itself was engaging. It follows up on Azuka Bladefury, who became Warlord of the Burning Blade clan after the player kills her predecessor. Azuka establishes herself as a nemesis of sorts, confronting and taunting the player until she is promoted to one of the major Warlords of the Iron Horde by Grommash himself. Her biggest role is when she leads an invasion on your garrison to reclaim an artifact that can awaken an ancient Magnaron, striking at your usually safe home base. The finale involves leading your garrison forces to the Iron Horde’s doorstep on the Talador/Tanaan border, and defeating the Magnaron before engaging Azuka in combat. Although she is defeated as expected, it is surprising that her fate was to combat the player so soon.

Blizzard had taken some criticism for not featuring enough women characters, and it was impressive to see them give Azuka a role not just as a recurring character throughout the expansion, but also to ingratiate her in with the other Iron Horde warlords of lore, placed alongside the likes of Blackhand and Kargath as an equal. And as Blackhand and Kargath are to fall as raid bosses, so too did I expect Azuka to continue to serve as a foil for the player throughout Warlords only to fall in the final raid upon Tanaan. While her death felt deserved, especially for Alliance players, it seemed to happen too soon. That said, Blizzard did a good job using her as the “boss” of the Garrison Campaign by building her up and then disposing of her within the twelve chapter series. Defeating her felt necessary and earned after the quests that came before.

The other complaint regarding the Garrison Campaign questline is one of factional equity. When Azuka raids your garrison, the results are slightly different for the Horde than the Alliance. Horde players find one of Azuka’s lieutenant’s assaulting a peon who subsequently dies a meaningless death. The Alliance experience is anything but meaningless. Instead of killing a peon, Baros Alexston is slaughtered during Azuka’s assault. Baros is the architect of Stormwind and has been in the game since launch. He joins the player on Draenor to serve as the chief architect for their garrison (another familiar face in a cavalcade of familiar faces that is your garrison staff) and his and Lieutentant Thorn’s dialog suggested a mutual courtship was developing.

That courtship is interrupted by Azuka’s seige, and in Baros’ final moments, he shares a rose with Lieutenant Thorn. After completing the quest, a single rose in a vase is now found on her desk. For Alliance players invested in the characters and the lore this was a powerful moment, while for Horde players there is no such emotion. Azuka is an annoyance for reclaiming the artifact from your garrison, but the loss of an unnamed peon is in no way comparable to the loss of Baros given how Blizzard started to set that moment up with Baros’ comments about Thorn early in the expansion. The Horde quest is a relatively empty experience, while the Alliance quest highlights just how well Blizzard can tell a story. It is disappointing that Blizzard could not find a way to provide players of both factions with a similar emotional journey.

Overall, I enjoyed the Garrison quests, and I look forward to the story advancement at the Iron Docks in 6.1. Hopefully, Blizzard can improve the pacing of events as well as the factional experience, to make the quests engaging for all players going forward.

]]>http://mashthosebuttons.com/2015/01/wow-thoughts-on-the-garrison-campaign/feed/0WoW! Thoughts! — On Improving Garrisonshttp://mashthosebuttons.com/2015/01/wow-thoughts-on-improving-garrisons/
http://mashthosebuttons.com/2015/01/wow-thoughts-on-improving-garrisons/#commentsFri, 23 Jan 2015 16:00:52 +0000http://mashthosebuttons.com/?p=46887Garrisons. Some players love them; Some players. . . do not love them. Either way, maintaining a small fortress is integral to the Warlords of Draenor experience. And while our Garrisons may remain in Draenor as our journeys take us elsewhere, Blizzard has said the systems it has introduced will be iterated throughout the game going forward. However, for now we are still just learning how our bases will evolve throughout this expansion, as information is beginning to seep out about patch 6.1. Some simple requests for quality of life (like being able to change the garrison music) are being implemented, while other notes show the direction we can expect our garrison to grow, such as the new platinum level for garrison invasions. While the following list is of desired garrison improvements, please note that many of these features may not be feasible at this point in the expansion. If anything, these ideas are presented so that future expansions can be designed with them in mind.

Racial architecture. When players started asking about racially customizing their garrison, Blizzard’s response was to allow players to select the race of their garrison guards as a function of the Level 3 Barracks. While I appreciate the feature, as a Horde player it has been underwhelming. I like my Tauren Frostwall Braves, but the Frostwall Axethrowers are still trolls and the guards in the mine are unaffected. Furthermore, players have been vocal in their desire to see their native architecture reflected in a base that they are supposedly responsible for. Admittedly, all garrison structures are designed from blueprints that Gazlowe or Baros Alexston are provided, so there is a canonical reason why garrisons favor orc and human architecture, since those are the only blueprints available. Still, Blizzard has hopefully heard the outcry, and is designing an assortment of buildings for future garrisons. If Warspear in Ashran can have an array of architecture from all the Horde races that should hopefully bode well for garrisons in the future.

Pre-designated plots. Blizzard made a major miscalculation by providing four plots for mandatory buildings: the mine, the fishing shack, the herb garden, and especially the pet menagerie. The mine and herb garden have effectively destroyed the economy for ore and herbs in this expansions, with every player able to gather more than enough of those resources (the only reason to mine and gather herbs at this point is to collect primal spirits). Players who relied on the gathering professions have no market to sell their goods. (At least the Barn requires a medium plot, but even that provides enough leather that non-skinners can avoid the auction house.) However, it makes sense that these buildings would be given plots of their own, since a mine, garden, or pond can take up a significant real estate.

The mine and the pond especially require features that need to pre-exist in the garrison, unlike the rest of the buildings which are interchangeable. Regardless of whether a player enjoys or participates in fishing, it makes sense every lot would have a shack since every garrison would have a pond. But the pet menagerie has no such requirement. It is a plot just like any other plot for building. Yet every player gets this lot regardless of their experience pet battling.

I do not pet battle. I tried it out in the Mists beta, and while I enjoyed it, I deigned never to play it again because it changed the game too much. Yet now a lot is dedicated to this purpose in my garrison, one that must be developed to obtain the Architect title. I understand that achievements sometimes require players to try different things (like A Long Strange Trip’s various PVP challenges), but this is poorly implemented, especially since you need to have max-level battle pets to unlock the plot.

Yes, there are guides to unlocking the plot in forty-five minutes or so, but even the fishing shack can be accessed with a fishing skill of one, and fishing is much more boring than pet battles. Ideally, all these plots should be accessible – even the mine and fishing shack could be designed so that if players felt they did not need access to a cavern or a body of water, a different structure could be built on that lot instead. I would not mind placing a storehouse where the little hut outside my mine currently sits (although if anywhere, it should be placed on the empty plot for the menagerie).

At the very least, though, I would like the Architect title to not require all the assigned buildings. Restricting that title only to Pet Battlers is an odd choice.

Downgradable plots. Currently, a level three garrison provides players with three small buildings, two medium buildings, and two large buildings. Everyone starts with a Barracks in their first large plot, and the extra follower and bodyguard perks make it worth retaining, plus it provides the racial guards. That leaves players with one other large plot. In my garrison, that building started as stables until I acquired all the mounts, then became a war mill, and is currently a goblin workshop.

The goblin workshop is interesting with the random invention it provides each day – the Skyterror jetpack is appealing as it is an item with two charges that shoots a player straight up into the sky, and then lets them glide as they fall back to earth in a limited form of flight. The two charges this item provides (along with Aviana’s Feather, which does the same thing) provide a limited form of flight that can be used to travel almost anywhere on Draenor. The other large building is the Spirit Lodge, which provides portals to points around Draenor. Once I earn the blueprints for the Goblin Workshop level 3 I’ll give the Spirit Lodge a try, although, it sounds underwhelming.

Instead, I would rather build a Gladiator’s Sanctum, which is a medium plot building. I originally had a Lumber Mill in my first medium plot (for the resources) and then an Inn in the second slot (for the ability to recruit followers). Now that I have enough resources, my Lumber Mill has been replaced by a Barn (for the Savage Blood). At some point, I would like to build a Gladiator’s Sanctum and try out some PVP to see if I can earn some of the associated titles (in particular, Warlord of Draenor is appealing). However, at this point, I lack space to build the Sanctum for this task.

Just as light armor can be worn by a higher proficiency (the mail armor skill allows the wearing of cloth and leather armors, for example), garrison plots should allow buildings of smaller sizes; medium plots could house small and medium buildings, and large plots could allow for buildings of any size. Perhaps I would find that my Gladiator’s Sanctum is a waste of space, but at least I’d do so sacrificing the random Goblin devices instead of the ability to acquire new followers or gather savage blood. Honestly, the selection of large buildings is surprisingly disappointing. For what should be the biggest and the best, they are quite underwhelming.

Followers. While we are getting additional followers in 6.1, including a legendary follower, as well as new missions and ways to select those missions, there are a few other improvements that can be made to followers. First, it would be nice if the twenty (or twenty-five with the Barracks) follower cap was removed. I could understand Blizzard leaving it so that only twenty-five followers in your list would show up in your garrison (if only because rendering followers could get unwieldly with greater numbers), but it seems weird to seek out and acquire these followers and then effectively bench them for arbitrary reasons. Then again, hunters have long faced this problem with their pet stables.

Second, any follower should be eligible to be a bodyguard, not just the current selection of five. It is nice that you can have any follower walk around the garrison with you by asking them to patrol (although Blizzard failed to implement a way to have them stop patrolling with you until you leave the garrison), but I would much rather take some followers I became familiar with while questing, like Lokra, all around Draenor with me rather than someone like Aeda Brightdawn, who is a blood elf warlock found just sitting outside Shattrath. The five followers each have reputations and quests associated with them, and it would be excessive to expect Blizzard to make and track separate reputations for each follower, as well as giving them special abilities once their reputation is maxed out, but this could be set so that the abilities and reputation applied to several different bodyguards. Perhaps Lokra and Ishaal could share reputations and skills, so that once Ishaal’s reputation is maxed out, both he and Lokra can grant mailbox access. This way, my experience journeying around Draenor would feel even more personal, as I could hand select my companion.

Alts. Watching the Blizzcon 2013, I was surprised that Blizzard was surprised when players asked about allowing their alts to visit each other’s garrisons. To anyone who maintains an assembly of characters, the desire to see them in the same place at the same time should be obvious, yet Blizzard seemed blindsided by this request, and subsequently no such option currently exists. The solution is for alts to be able to serve as followers in another character’s garrison. Once an alt meets certain requirements, such as completing the Tanaan Jungle introduction, a player should be able to recruit that character into their garrison. Depending on the alt or spec of the alt, it could be assigned to the related buildings or go on missions for rewards and experience. The only caveat should be that while an alt is in use – at a building or on a mission – it should be unavailable to play. I would enjoy walking around my garrison and seeing my alts hanging out; Surely other players consider their alts to be a guild of sorts, saving Azeroth together even if they can never actually meet. For altoholics, this would be a dream come true.

Overall, garrisons turned out to be quite pleasing. The amount of daily tasks they provided seemed overwhelming at first, but as players have winnowed down that task list, either by completing items or realizing certain tasks are unimportant (such as mining), the facets of the garrison experience that require improvement have become evident. While it is exciting to witness the garrison grow throughout this expansion, the direction that Blizzard goes with the idea next is truly exciting. Hopefully, they are listening to the player feedback provided at an early enough point in the next development cycle to shape an experience that truly reflects the kind of gaming experience that players truly want.

]]>http://mashthosebuttons.com/2015/01/wow-thoughts-on-improving-garrisons/feed/0WoW! Thoughts! — On Wishing Everyone a Happy 2015!http://mashthosebuttons.com/2015/01/wow-thoughts-on-wishing-everyone-a-happy-2015/
http://mashthosebuttons.com/2015/01/wow-thoughts-on-wishing-everyone-a-happy-2015/#commentsTue, 06 Jan 2015 17:46:09 +0000http://mashthosebuttons.com/?p=46856With 2015 upon us, it’s time to look forward to the new year and what I wish would happen for some of the major lore characters.

For Thrall, I wish the safety of his whole family. I was concerned about how much time he would get to spend with them, but now that Aggra is (unwisely) with him, he’s put his child’s parents directly in harm’s way. At least he gets to spend time with his own parents. Aggra may have teased Durotan that Thrall thinks of him like a father, but I think before Warlords of Draenor is done we’ll get our full-on family reunion that we’ve been waiting for; where Thrall and Durotan acknowledge their true bond.

For Grommash Hellscream, I wish he would find the peace his son was denied, but we know that won’t happen. Grommash’s bloodthirst will see him as our opposition until the end of this expansion, which is ironic because denying his thirst and not drinking the demon blood is what set him on this path. Its not clear if he ever understood that Garrosh was his son from our timeline, and it seems that Grom’s dedication to the conquering Draenor and then Azeroth leaves little room for familial bonds. Whenever his final confrontation with Thrall happens, its going to be devastating, if only because I expect yet another callback to the Warcraft III cinematic.

For Khadgar, I wish him success in leading the mission on Draenor. It still seems as though not everything is as it should be with him, as he is now clean-shaven and seems quite spry for someone who should be as (artificially) aged as he is. The fact that he keeps transforming into a raven and is wielding Atiesh suggest that he has learned some of his old master’s spells, but given that his old master was possessed by Sargeras, who knows what else he may have picked up? If not for the Khadgar model being updated in Outland’s Shattrath, I would suspect that this was the Alternate-Khadgar (possibly possessed by Alt-Sargeras) come to our timeline to wreak havoc, and it may well be that the old model was updated simply because all humans were, but for now, I can overlook all these incongruities and take the wizard at face value.

For Wrathion, I wish he would appear in Warlords. Admiral Taylor’s journal references the Dragon Prince appearing at his garrison shortly before it is sacked, so we know he is around. Then again, it might be fun to spend an expansion or two loosely following his exploits second-hand before we run into him as a villain of significance. Whatever happens, he must face Anduin again before we slay him. I’m impressed with how Blizzard was able to build that relationship over a few short scenes in Mists of Pandaria only to have Wrathion betray everyone at the end of War Crimes. Anduin tends to show compassion towards everyone, but Wrathion may be one character who not only deserves none but will use any leniency provided as a weapon. Their confrontation is going to be intriguing.

For Azuka Bladefury, I wish that she would realize that she’s working for the losing team. The Garrison Campaign Quest “Warlord’s Council” shows her anointed as the newest Warlord of the Iron Horde, and seemingly moving into Grom’s favor at the expense of Blackhand. Given that we know that Blackhand is a boss in the Blackrock Foundry, it would seem to suggest that Azuka’s role in the Iron Horde will only grow. It is nice that Blizzard is promoting a female Warlord (and doing so in a way that is not as ham-fisted as sending Aggra to Draenor), and after encountering her several times in Nagrand she’s going to earn her place as a boss fight at some point. However, for her sake, she should realize that the conquest of the Iron Horde is wrong, and it’s never too late to ally with the Frostwolves and defend Draenor. Then again, I would have said all the same about Zaela, and her fate at the end of Upper Blackrock Spire resolved that.

For Ariok, I hope he survives his sacrifice in Tanaan. I fully expect that he did, and that we’ll find him (in whatever hulk-orc form he has taken) once that zone is opened to us. I don’t look forward to being given a quest to return with bad news to Eitrigg.

For Lantressor of the Blade, I hope he can get out of everyone’s mines and enjoy some fresh air.

For Varian and Vol’jin, I hope they can maintain the peace that seems to exist between the two factions (outside of Ashran). I doubt we’ll get to see more of Vol’jin’s new regime while we remain on Draenor, but I expect that these two leaders should make some diplomatic headway in our absence.

For Draenor, I hope the planet can stay together. I have a bad feeling that one of the subtle themes this expansion is that history has a way of repeating itself – with events echoing our history, like Grommash slaying Mannoroth with one swing of Gorehowl, or Orgrim Doomhammer turning on Blackhand (although failing in his efforts.) For many of the orcs and Draenai, this is literally a second chance at some events, and while many characters are looking to prevent disaster from occuring, signs are that the Burning Legion is going to intensify its efforts (with Archimonde possibly on his way instead of Kil’jaeden.) The last time we faced Archimonde, the Night Elves had to sacrifice their immortality and the Well of Eternity to let the wisps blow him up. This time, without such a power source, we may need to sacrifice a planet. It would be a shame if Draenor was destroyed again, but as long as the Legion looms, the planet is very much in peril.

For the rest of the Warlords, I wish they drop plenty of loot as we raid and slay them throughout the year.

]]>http://mashthosebuttons.com/2015/01/wow-thoughts-on-wishing-everyone-a-happy-2015/feed/0WoW! Thoughts! — On Rushing Through Warlords of Draenorhttp://mashthosebuttons.com/2014/12/wow-thoughts-on-rushing-through-warlords-of-draenor/
http://mashthosebuttons.com/2014/12/wow-thoughts-on-rushing-through-warlords-of-draenor/#commentsWed, 24 Dec 2014 15:30:54 +0000http://mashthosebuttons.com/?p=46842I’m tired of Warlords of Draenor. No, I’m not tired of playing it – I still have plenty of things to work on and plenty to keep me busy. I’m tired of all the complaints over it. Some say it’s terrible because there isn’t enough to do at max level. Some say it’s terrible because garrison management across alts is a pain. At least over the summer everyone had one common complaint: There’s no new content! Now, especially with the subscription numbers back up, it seems that everyone has their opinions and while everyone seems to agree that Warlords is flawed, no one can agree upon the manner in which it is flawed.

One of the best aspects to Mists of Pandaria was the bounty of activities available to level 90 characters. At max level, there were several reputations to work on, with assorted rewards (some of which being further reputations to work on). Blizzard scaled back their daily quests significantly, but there is still plenty to work on at max level. For those interested in reputation grinds, the Arrokoa and Frostwolf (for Horde) or Exarch (for Alliance) reputations will take an effort to complete. Questing will only get players to revered status, and with mobs that about 10 reputation per kill, grinding to exalted is a time sink.

Furthermore, various garrison buildings offer an assortment of activities. The inn gives daily dungeon quests. The stables gives a series of quests to earn some mounts with achievements that reward even more mounts. The barracks allows for five bodyguards, each with their own reputation grind requiring 2000 kills. The level 3 fishing shack requires catching 600 enormous fish. And the coliseum unlocks PVP quests. There’s also the open-world PVP of Ashran, and pet battles for those who are interested in that. And of course my much beloved assault quests (and the occasional garrison invasion they trigger). Once questing is done in Nagrand, Warlords of Draenor still has plenty to offer.

The problem is though that many players may have completed several of these tasks. There are only 20 inn quests to cycle through, and after the first six mounts are earned from the stables the subsequent achievements can be done fairly quickly. The end result is that players can find themselves left in their garrison with nothing to do but queue for dungeons or raids, and if garrison management isn’t fun, then those players won’t enjoy Warlords of Draenor. Leveling alts is easier this expansion since there aren’t as many reputations to worry about, but each alt now brings along another garrison to manage. Depending on your viewpoint of garrisons, this is either a significant improvement over or an utter disaster from Blizzard’s treatment of alts in Mists. Plus, with many garrison-related achievements account bound (like the inn quests or stable mounts), there is less pressure to repeat some of the most time intensive activities on additional characters.

Ultimately, Blizzard provided us with content. Warlords has been out for slightly over a month, and all we know about patch 6.1 is that it will be on the PTR soon. The problem with Warlords of Draenor is the problem that Blizzard always has with their player base: people play too damn fast. There are players who rushed to level 100 within the day that Warlords came out. Mythic Highmaul was defeated in five days. Admittedly, these are bleeding edge cases, but players are too inclined to gorge on content and then complain when it has been exhausted. We just survived a fourteen month content drought, after an expansion when Blizzard openly had characters advising players to “slow down.” As much as people like to criticize Blizzard’s tendency to over-correct, in this case the player base fails to correct at all.

There is no need to rush. We are going to be experiencing Draenor for a year, if not longer. Given that WoW has a monthly subscription (for now), I could understand rushing to get as much done in a month before unsubscribing, but the players who complain about lack of content are the type to play until they quit out of anger or boredom. Players in the game for the long haul need to act like it. There is nothing wrong with logging in for 15 minutes some days to just check your garrisons and log out. There is nothing wrong with not logging in at all some days. People have complained that they feel like Blizzard doesn’t want them to play the game, and to a degree, that may be true. They did add a tip to the loading screen that advises meeting up with your friends outside of WoW. Even the resting experience buff was designed to discourage long play sessions back in vanilla.

It is each player’s responsibility to budget their World of Warcraft time accordingly. Complaining about a lack of content six weeks after an expansion came out is not Blizzard’s fault, but it will be perceived as such. Until players can learn to properly manage their time. Blizzard will never be able to put out content fast enough. We know it takes two years to get an expansion out. We may well get the next expansion in a quicker time frame, but it is literally going to cost us a raid tier. We need to stop racing through everything and just enjoy what Blizzard gives us for as long as we can.

And once we no longer enjoy it, we don’t need to ask Blizzard for more, or complain about how we burned through it. That’s when we need to step away from the game and do something else. Azeroth and Draenor will still be here. And Blizzard will be here, ready to listen to all the complaints about how there is nothing to do when everyone blows through patch 6.1 in a day or two.

WoW! Blurb!

Happy Winter’s Veil and Merry Christmas!

]]>http://mashthosebuttons.com/2014/12/wow-thoughts-on-rushing-through-warlords-of-draenor/feed/0WoW! Thoughts! — On Missing Information and Missed Opportunitieshttp://mashthosebuttons.com/2014/12/wow-thoughts-on-missing-information-and-missed-opportunities/
http://mashthosebuttons.com/2014/12/wow-thoughts-on-missing-information-and-missed-opportunities/#commentsFri, 19 Dec 2014 15:26:56 +0000http://mashthosebuttons.com/?p=46837Playing through Warlords of Draenor has been immensely enjoyable. Blizzard is still at the top of their game for producing engaging expansions. Everything since rushing through the Red Portal with Thrall and Maraad has been exciting, but just how we got to the point of standing opposite the Iron Horde in Tanaan is a little unclear. Blizzard ignored a major part of the events that lead to us journeying to Draenor, and I was hoping that our interactions with Thrall or Maraad or Khadgar would shed some light on just how we got here. So far, they have not. As a result, there are several unanswered questions about what is happening on Draenor.

At the end of War Crimes, Garrosh disappears with Kairoz from the Temple of the White Tiger. The reader is told that they absconded to an alternate version of Nagrand, but regarding the characters on Azeroth, Vol’jin sums up their knowledge best: “So now we got a high and mighty bronze dragon inventor, the last black dragon, and the son of Hellscream all working together, and we don’t even be knowing where or when to look for ‘em.” Blizzard released a series of short stories and comics detailing the creation of the Iron Horde and describing events on Draenor, but nothing is told of what is happening on Azeroth during this time.

After Garrosh flees his trial, the next we see of Azeroth is the Iron Tide event and Maraad’s history lessons for Varian during Lords of War. By that point, the Iron Horde has already breached the portal, and Varian seems quite aware of the nature of the threat – aware enough to ask Maraad about the old Warlords. The crucial piece of information that we are never given is how Varian, and more importantly, Thrall, learn about the threat that is before them.

At Blizzcon 2013 Chris Metzen got into a bit of trouble for describing the journey to Draenor as a “boy’s trip.” His point was that Thrall was going to Draenor without his family to deal with Garrosh and the carnage he had wrought. But Thrall going to Draenor is crucial to the story being told this expansion. Of anyone in the Horde, Thrall has ties to several major characters this expansion. Before leaving Tanaan, Thrall encounters the alternate Grommash, who in the original timeline was his close friend in Warcraft III. Thrall also gets to interact with his parents, Durotan and Draka, which leads to some amusing moments, even if he never explains their relationship to them. The logical argument was that Thrall needed to go to Draenor for narrative purposes, and therefore Aggra would stay home with the children because someone had to. Despite playing into gender-roles, it was not a gender-based decision. The story required father Thrall to be on Draenor so mother Aggra was relegated to babysitting.

After the outcry over Metzen’s comments, plans clearly changed. In War Crimes Aggra watches over their child during the climactic fight at the Temple, and when Thrall finds her in the aftermath, both she and child are safe with three corpses nearby indicating that Aggra is more than capable of playing parent and combat-shaman at the same time. Thrall still travels to Draenor alone (as Aggra is not with us during the initial raid through the portal), but once he meets Draka she begins to needle him like any good mother, even if she does not know of the relationship.

Draka: You fight with much experience, Thrall. Why do you not have a mate?

Thrall: I-I do! I saw that my mate remained behind to care for our little ones.

Draka: You… wanted her to stay? This is war! More than ever, this is when family belongs at your side!

Thrall: I.. never looked at it that way.

Draka: What a strange green orc you are.

As reinforcements are eventually brought through the various portals from Azeroth, Aggra is indeed one of them, and finally joins Thrall and Draka at Wor’var in Nagrand. After Thrall defeats Garrosh, Aggra is by his side as the argument ensues amongst the assembled heroes regarding how to proceed.

Draka’s comments and Aggra’s resulting appearance show Blizzard is clearly eating crow over Metzen’s statement, yet this reaction is also poorly thought out. Blizzard is presenting Aggra as a strong female character at the expense of presenting Thrall and Aggra as good parents. Children tend to fare poorly when introduced to war zones, as evidenced by both the original Durotan and Draka’s fates as well as the tale of Sunwalker Dezco. If Durotan does not bring his family to meet Orgrim Doomhammer, then the Shadow Council assassins would only be able to kill Durotan, and Thrall is not left an orphan abandoned in a crime scene. Likewise, in the tragic Bleeding Sun, Sunwalker Dezco loses one of his children when he unwillingly brings him into combat. Draka may claim that family belongs together even in times of crisis, but in a world of war, that is not always a viable choice.

Ultimately, this inconsistency is why the information about how Thrall and everyone on Azeroth learned of the Iron Horde is so important. From a storytelling perspective, we know that Thrall needs to go to Draenor. From a storytelling perspective, we know why it was disappointing that Aggra would stay behind, and ultimately why it was decided she should go. But from a lore perspective, little reason is given why Thrall needed to go through the portal in the first place. We need to know what Thrall and Aggra knew before the Iron Tide event, so that we can understand their decision relating to Thrall engaging the Iron Horde while Aggra waited behind and then the subsequent reversal of that decision. Draka’s dialogue is cute as meta-commentary on the game and it is consistent with her original timeline counterpart’s decision to remain with Durotan on his visit to Orgrim, but the outcome of that meeting ultimately underscores Draka’s flawed logic.

And that is the biggest part of why Thrall should insist that either he or Aggra stay on Azeroth. It is ultimately not about babysitting – there are plenty of trusted members of the Horde that can handle watching a child – but it is about making sure that they have at least one parent to grow up with. Thrall was raised an orphan and had to travel through time and space just to meet a version of his parents. That should definitely influence his parenting style. If he has the opportunity to deny his children the circumstances that he was faced with by not putting both himself and his wife in harm’s way, then he should opt to take that. Draka may insist that family belongs together during times of strife, but Thrall’s life has been full of strife without a family to support him. Thrall essentially has the same opportunity that Garrosh was offered in journeying to Draenor; each orc can stop his parents from making the biggest mistake of their lives. While Garrosh prevents Grom from drinking the demon blood, Thrall fails to educate his mother about her impending mistake. Instead of debating her, it is played as a meta-joke about how Blizzard handles gender bias.

Instead, if Blizzard truly wanted to examine gender roles, they needed to present Thrall and Aggra making decisions about their family. Given that Thrall had never been to Draenor proper and only saw Outland the few times he was there during Burning Crusade and prior to Cataclysm, perhaps it would have made sense for Aggra to head over in his stead. She may not be a former Warchief, but she is a brown orc, much like the natives of this new (old) world, instead of a green-skinned orc who at first glance would appear aligned with the enemy. Plus, there’s no awkwardness regarding Aggra’s parentage (assuming Thrall even knew that meeting Durotan was even a possibility).

Plus Thrall is still wearing some of Doomhammer’s armor and wielding his namesake weapon. Sending Aggra through the portal first allows Blizzard to portray her as a bad ass (imagine if she was allowed to swat orcs around with Maraad during the Tanaan intro as opposed to Thrall) while also letting Thrall stay home and play father. Aggra could even comment in front of the player how great a father Thrall is, showing that masculinity is not just about wielding a big hammer and smashing bad guys.

Ultimately, it is not important whether Thrall or Aggra stay or go to Draenor. There are plenty of reasons for Blizzard to select each outcome in the story they are telling. What is important is how they are telling that story. Without focusing on the reasons for each of the characters staying or going, then all the decisions seem arbitrary. Aggra’s appearance in Draenor seems arbitrarily made as a response to the Blizzcon criticism, and characters that behave in such a haphazard fashion are not strong characters, despite how many pirates they can kill while protecting their child.

World of Warcraft is an expansive universe, and while it does seem to focus on father-son relationships, there is plenty of room for strong female characters. But if Blizzard wants to present them properly, they need to do so in the proper context. How do Varian, Maraad, Thrall, and Aggra know the nature of the Iron Horde threat? That information, and what the characters do with it, is important, and it is a shame that Blizzard seems to have established that the answer is “they just do.”

]]>http://mashthosebuttons.com/2014/12/wow-thoughts-on-missing-information-and-missed-opportunities/feed/0WoW! Thoughts! — On the Best Feature in Warlords: Assault Questshttp://mashthosebuttons.com/2014/12/wow-thoughts-on-the-best-feature-in-warlords-assault-quests/
http://mashthosebuttons.com/2014/12/wow-thoughts-on-the-best-feature-in-warlords-assault-quests/#commentsThu, 11 Dec 2014 16:22:32 +0000http://mashthosebuttons.com/?p=46804Now that we have had about a month to spend on Draenor, it has become clear to me what my favorite innovation in the new expansion has been. After the daily quest explosion that was Mists of Pandaria, Blizzard seemingly overcompensated by severely reducing the number of daily quests. While there are daily quests for fishing or for the stables or for dungeon running, the primary daily quests for advancing your character have been replaced by one daily quest given in the garrison. Each day, players have a choice to assault a different region of Draenor and get an award of apexis crystals – which is a currency for high-level rewards this expansion. These assaults are quietly Warlords of Draenor’s greatest innovation.

Daily quests in Mists were decried for two reasons. First, they gated epic gear which is required for raiding. The second reason was that some of the reputations were also gated behind other reputation grinds. Each day players who wanted to improve their character had to log in and do as many of the daily quests available, and then, after getting to revered with the one specific faction (the Golden Lotus), they had to start the reputation grind over for two additional factions. For players who just wanted the quickest path to high level gear (which previously just meant earning enough valor points – usually obtained from running dungeons), it was an endless list of chores to repeat each day.

Blizzard’s decision in Mists to remove the limit of twenty-five daily quests seemed like a favor, but it simply encouraged players to gorge on daily quests until they could no longer stand it. After the initial outcry, Blizzard worked to eliminate daily quests from their content patches as the expansion wore on, culminating in the design of the Timeless Isle. Although it had two daily quests and a weekly quest (all to kill and loot mobs), the primary function of the Isle was for players to explore the island and complete the quests however they wanted. Blizzard was pleased with how that zone turned out.

At Mists launch each faction had a daily quest hub where players would go and receive about six quests that would send them to an area where they would have to kill certain mobs, loot certain items, and interact with certain objects. It made sense because players would have to kill and loot the mobs while running to the objects, but usually in trying to find six eggs to squish, players would wind up killing significantly more than the eight egg-defenders they were tasked with slaying. These creatures would provide loot, but after completing the initial task any additional mobs just became an annoyance. The innovation of the assault in Warlords has completely negated this effect.

Each day in Warlords, a map in the Garrison Town Hall lets players choose between a single-player or a group assault quest with the promise of apexis crystals as the reward. Players are directed to one of several areas littered with mobs, and upon arrival, a little bar appears to measure the progress of the assault. As players run around the area, places such as a Warsong Camp, an Ogre Stronghold, or a Legion Battlefield, each mob they kill or object they interact with increases their progress. It is the same mechanics as the prior daily quests had – kill X number of mobs, destroy Y number of things, but now there is no specific amount of each to be dealt with.

Instead, players are free to roam, and when they get their assault meter to 100%, be it by killing 100 Everbloom Wasps, 20 Lumbering Ancients, or throwing rocks at 100 Blighted Axebeaks, players have completed the objective and can return to the garrison for their reward. The end result is that while players are working on the quest, they are free to attack everything that is hostile and touch everything that lights up. They are not stuck with one singular purpose, waiting for a specific creature to spawn or looking for that one last object, as every other creature, that a moment ago was providing them with gameplay, now becomes an annoyance that is preventing them from achieving their goal.

What these assault quests have done is remove the grindy nature of the daily quests. Players are not only able to choose how to complete the quest, but they can work with what the environment provides. When given a quest to kill eight specific mobs, if someone came through and killed them right before the player arrived, then that player would have to wait through a hopefully short respawn timer. Instead, if all of a certain mob are killed, there may be other mobs nearby that will still yield assault credit, or there may be objects to interact with instead. A player is not stuck running around looking for one specific creature anymore, and that significantly reduces the tedium daily quests used to create.

Fundamentally, it makes sense. Quest objectives at best are an arbitrary measure of attempting to simulate the effectiveness of combat. In a world where mobs endlessly spawn, there needs to be some point at which players stop trying to defeat all the enemy forces, because they literally cannot win. Players would never leave the starting zone, because they would be stuck trying to eliminate the infinite quillboar menace in Mulgore, for example, and never progress into the larger world. The assault mechanic takes this abstraction, and applies it in such a way that it feels natural.

If a player was tasked with crushing six eggs but can only find five, most real quest givers would be forgiving if the end result is that the overall force being dealt with was defeated. Blizzard finally found a way to implement this in game without making the game easier. The basics are still the same – go to a zone, kill mobs, clicks on stuff, earn rewards – but it is now done in a way that lets the player simply play, rather than having to knock items off a task list.

I look forward to seeing this assault mechanic applied as Warlords progresses. It is not clear how many content patches this expansion will have, but if they contain improvements to the questing experience like this, then this will be a fun expansion to play through.